Chemistry
by Denkinasu
Summary: Follows the Sole Survivor as she tried to make a living in the Commonwealth and finds a home amongst the denizens of Goodneighbor. A different take on the story 'Chemists' and still slightly rough. Please R&R
1. A Chance Meeting

The only light illuminating the Old State House came from the decrepit oil lamps, candles, and the faint moonlight shinning in through the boarded windows. It casted deep shadows across the pale woman's face, the dance of the candles twinkling in her blue-grey eyes. Her black formal hat was tipped low and her dark ringlets of hair obscured the apprehension on her face. She watched the ghoul in the red frock with uneasiness who stared back at her stoically. She had screwed up. Big time.

She wondered how she had gotten roped into that mess with Bobbi and how Hancock would react to it. While Jet had peacefully ended the situation and Bobbi walked, she could only ponder at what his reaction would be to his strongroom being defiled.

A chill had run down her spine when Fahrenheit told Jet to speak to him personally about the mess, even though there was a reassuring glint in the bodyguard's eyes. Jet had been fiercely loyal to Goodneighbor, becoming one of its denizens and many chem peddlers.

That's how she earned her new name.

The mayor eyed her nervous stance, calmly striking a match on his boot and lighting a cigarette. He extended the pack out to her and she took one, watching him as he took a drag in silence. Exhaling, smoke swirled around his scarred face, illuminated by the orange glow, and he leaned against the wall as Jet addressed him.

"Well, if it ain't Bobbi's little patsy," he dug his hand into his pocket, and pulled out a bag of caps and tossed it to her.

"Here, for protecting my stash."

Her eyes widened in disbelief as he continued, "Wise decision, turning on Bobbi like that." His voice was smooth and low, dark eyes showing respect for Jet.

"I'm sorry. For everything." Stammering that out, she looked down at the dirty floor in shamed at being conned.

"Hey, this is Goodneighbor. No hard feelings."

"So…we're okay?" Jet looked up at him anxiously, awaiting some type of repercussion.

"We are." She saw a smirk painted on his damaged face as he took a long drag and then continued.

"Lemme tell ya. This classy little tricorner hat of mine is getting heavy. Am I turning into the man? Some kind of tyrant? I spend all my time putting down the people I would've been proud to scheme with just a few years ago."

He turned to gaze out of the window in thought, "I need to take a walk again. Get a grip on what really matters. Living free." His face faltered and he looked at her imploringly, almost waiting for her to ask what they were both thinking.

Jet's eyes were twinkling as she practically spat out the words in excitement, "You know, if you're heading out…why not come with me?"

"Yeah. I like it. You might just be the right kind of trouble. Let me just have a little chat with my community, first. Give them the news."

Jet was elated as she watched him turn away. She never knew that this turn of events would end with her traveling with the infamous mayor of Goodneighbor, but she was happy that they did.

Touching the scars that graced her face and relaxing her stance, she let out a sigh and thought about how all of this happened and what was to come.


	2. Odd Jobs

Three months earlier the woman known as Jet was still called Stone, and Stone was leaning over her chemistry station in Hangman's Alley. Her own little private oasis, tucked away and highly guarded, it provided a base of operations for her to have a steady chem business. It was home to just her and Dogmeat, who looked up at her from a ratty mattress as she readied some scrap pieces of plastic and fertilizer to make jet. Her workbench was covered in empty needles and various scraps, and pinned above her workstation was a sloppily scrawled list of recipes.

Shelves on the wall were lined with jars filled with hubflowers, stacked tins of Mentats, various liquors Stone used in cooking, Med-X, and bottles of Buffout. A few bottles of Day Tripper were next to it in a lockbox, considering the rare drug was her favorite ride of choice and always made her think about the days before the Great War.

The memories of Nate had started to fade away and as the days passed, Stone became more dispirited about retrieving Shaun. She seldom dreamt of them anymore, and an empty pang resonated in her chest as she thought about them emotionlessly. She was focusing on staying alive, and it proved to be a daily struggle for her.

She barely scraped by via remodeling pipe pistols for sale or working as a hired gun or running errands for people in Diamond City.

Making chems had been a hobby turned new job.

Looking down at her work station, her blue-grey eyes twinkled as she had finished concocting several canisters of jet and had made various psycho hybrids.

She had heard from Solomon in Diamond City that one of the best places to buy and sell chems was Goodneighbor, and he had placed the coordinates in her Pip-Boy before giving her some words of advice.

Stone was lithe and charming, dressed in her trademark black suit and hat as she readied herself to pander to her "crowd". A Marksman .50 sniper rifle was slung across her back and a dufflebag was on her shoulder as she moved east from her tiny settlement. She had perfected various recipes for psycho and jet, and was working on recipes for different variations of Buffout and Mentats. She knew her refined jet would be useful for a wider audience.

Dogmeat was tagging behind her, tail wagging as they made their way through the dilapidated city. The skeletons of tall buildings casted some relief from the noon sun, the sound of the buildings creaking eerily and echoing. She could hear far-off gunshots as she moved slowly in fear of feral ghouls and supermutants.

Raiders could be picked off easily from a distance, but the feral ghouls moved too fast and she didn't have enough bullets to use the suppressed 10mm. Once they heard the gunshots, they came running. Besides that, she would occasionally trip over one feigning sleep.

Stone had gotten halfway to Goodneighbor as the sun was starting to lower in the sky. She was sore from carrying so much, but had been lucky with only having to snipe far-off raiders.

She stopped to rest on a bench in Trinity Plaza, sighing as she ripped a piece of dried Brahmin steak in two. She handed it Dogmeat, who took it happily and the two ate together in silence.

Dogmeat stopped eating suddenly to perk his ears up. He looked around hesitantly, sniffing the air as his fur began to bristle. Stone slung the rifle into position and loaded it, looking across the barren city.

"What it is boy?" she whispered, eyeing the distance.

Dogmeat began growling as a low rumble erupted from the far end of the plaza. Stone stood and watched in horror as a large shadow came creeping out of an alleyway.

"Shit."

A deathclaw was moving around slowly, looking around as Stone dropped to the ground and peered through the scope. _The belly is their weak spot,_ she thought shakily.

"Hold until my shot," she patted Dogmeat for reassurance. More for her own though.

She was holding her breath, calming her shaking hands as she exhaled and pulled the trigger. A shot rang out and pierced the beast's belly. Roaring in surprise and pain, it became enraged and charged forward as Stone pumped round after round in the beast.

Dogmeat ran forward and bit down into one arm and while he held the arm, the deathclaw leapt at Stone. The slugs from the gun had only slowed it slightly, but it was bleeding profusely.

Its claw struck her across the face, leaving a gash across her eye. Blinded by her own blood, she feebly managed to fire one more shot in its eye and it staggered backwards falling limp.

She was panting heavily and she crawled towards her chem bag. Blood was rushing from her face and Stone weakly dug through her bag looking for Med-X. She found cloth and some antiseptic and gingerly cleaned the wound after the Med-X had alleviated some of the excruciating pain. A stimpack healed her some and softened the amount of blood loss, but she was protecting against any limbs that may have been crippled in the fight.

She looked at Dogmeat who was in better shape than her, "Looks like you're taking the lead, get us their safely, boy."

He whined softly at her and licked her hand as she shakily stood up.

 _Too far to go back, I just need to keep pushing forward._

Taking a spiked walking cane out of her dufflebag, she leaned on it as she hobbled onward.


End file.
